Instagram — David Hughes

I’ve been asked whether I regret deleting my Instagram account after Instagram’s recent volte face. I don’t, but I do regret opening my second Instagram account in the first place.

When Facebook bought Instagram earlier this year I deleted my account. I have a problem with Facebook, I’ve never really “got it” and their approach to security and privacy bother me. I didn’t want Facebook selling my photos, selling data about my photos or advertising to me so I voted with my feet.

But later in the year I was convinced by friends and family to reopen my Facebook account, and so thought if I’m going to be “Zuckerberg’s bitch” I might as well go the whole hog and open another Instagram account. So I did.

A number of events have made me re-evaluate my relationship with social networks, and my use of free apps and services. I’d been wondering about the business model of certain apps I used, Aral Balkan’s excellent talk The True Cost of Free at the last MK Geek Night really got me thinking, and then Instagram reminded us all that we are the product.

Facebook have shown their intentions with regard to Instagram; they’ll be back with revised terms in 2013, and they will sell their users, and to their users.

So not only have I deleted my Instagram account (again), but I’ve also deleted my Facebook account (again), and my Foursquare account (again).

I’m now using paid services and apps wherever possible – I’d rather be the customer than the product.

Earlier today Instagram posted Updated Terms of Service Based on Your Feedback on their blog in which they say:

The concerns we heard about from you the most focused on advertising, and what our changes might mean for you and your photos. There was confusion and real concern about what our possible advertising products could look like and how they would work.

Because of the feedback we have heard from you, we are reverting this advertising section to the original version that has been in effect since we launched the service in October 2010.

This is the first time I can remember any social network, let alone Facebook and let us not forget that Instagram is now Facebook, backing down under pressure from users.

On reading the news via my RSS feeds this morning my initial reaction was “they’ll back within 6 months with a better worded set of terms”. Reading the full blog post reveals

Going forward, rather than obtain permission from you to introduce possible advertising products we have not yet developed, we are going to take the time to complete our plans, and then come back to our users and explain how we would like for our advertising business to work.

Facebook still want to ‘monetize’ Instagram, they now understand they need to be more careful in how they do so.

Remember you aren’t a customer you are a user, and as a user you are simply data, data that Facebook can and will sell.

Account Deleted

Instagram Back Pedals on Terms of Service